I mean, instead of running your own Matrix server?
Disadvantages include (this list is probably not exhaustive):
- Presence is disabled (as this uses a fair amount of resources)
- It has a tendency to be overloaded occasionally because so many people use it
- You have to play by their rules (not a problem for most users, but it bears mentioning)
You could also join other Matrix servers, especially ones that cater to a particular interest of yours.
If you go with self hosting, running a decent personal Matrix server that is capable of joining large channels like Matrix HQ is likely going to cost you money and/or time.
Thanks! I’m fairly new to Matrix, so I don’t know what “presence” means. Do you mind explaining it?
Presence tracking allows users to see the state (e.g online/offline) of other local and remote users.
Contributes to centralization. Same reason as for mastodon.social or lemmy.ml.
One advantage I found was the ability to run my own bridges, which allow you to connect Matrix to other services, like Signal, LinkedIn, or Telegram.
Is there a dependency on the instance, will it be blocked otherwise? I have activated the bridge to Telegram and Discord for my channels in the channel itself.
most bridges are appservices, which must be hardcoded in Synapse(/Dendrite/Conduit/…) config
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